by L. A. Banks
“Young man, you are in the wrong section,” Counselor Zehiradangra told him. “Your placement has been re-evaluated. You will be with the Specials starting today.” Miguel’s face lit up. “But note,” she added. “From those to whom much is given, much is required….”
Ignoring the implicit warning in the oracle’s words, the Specials broke out into a collective chant. “Special Forces, hoorah!”
Whoops and cheers rang out as Miguel ran over to bump fists with Alejandro and Valencio, laughing. And Uncle Jose’s joy was uncontained as he shouted, “Yes! That’s my boy!”
When things settled down again, all eyes turned back to the remaining Neteru kids.
Allie had started to spark. Hyacinth took her hand, but she looked at Sarah with sad eyes and shook her head. I don’t want to, she said in Sarah’s mind. I don’t want to be separated from you guys.
You have to, Sarah mentally told her and smiled a little.
“Oh, what the hell?” Tami said, standing abruptly, breaking into Sarah’s thoughts. Her friends stared as she marched over and stood behind the Blend flag bearer, lifting her chin defiantly.
At first no one said anything, and then confused murmurs rose throughout the Hall. Even the Blend flag bearer looked like he didn’t understand what was going on until a few scattered but puzzled cheers gave way to more enthusiastic ones, as if the Blends were slowly realizing that Tami standing behind their flag wasn’t a joke. But Sarah heard comments like, “One of them is a Blend?” and “Are you serious?”
She leaned forward and whispered , “Hyacinth, Allie, just go.”
“No, I—”
“Go,” Sarah said, her tone leaving no room for argument. “Now.”
Hyacinth’s shoulders slumped. Allie bit her lip as though she were about to cry. But both of them reluctantly got up and walked across the Great Hall, and then Hyacinth stood behind the Clairvoyant flag, while Allie went to stand with the Tactical division. Wild cheers went up around the Hall, and someone yelled out, “Now that’s more like it!”
Sarah noticed that Melissa Gray and her two friends clapped apathetically. She looked meaningfully at her stressed-out compound brother, Donnie.
He nodded, but he looked like he was about to puke.
Sarah took a deep breath and then stood up.
A hush fell over the crowd again. She refused to look at her parents’ expressions and imagined they had to be dying a thousand deaths, just like she was now. If she’d looked and seen pity in their eyes, she might have bolted for the door. Instead, she kept her gaze focused on the flag bearers.
Sarah began to walk down the aisle, aware that Donnie was following her. She felt the weight of everyone’s gaze on her and raised her eyes to meet Tami’s, which were locked on hers in moral support. Her best friend gave her an encouraging nod, though Tami hardly looked like she was enjoying herself. Maybe the old saying was true and misery did love company. Sarah was halfway to her destiny when Counselor Zehiradangra called out to her.
“Sarah.”
Startled, she stopped in her tracks and looked up.
Her mother and grandmother looked mildly surprised, as well. Her father took a step forward, suddenly tense.
“Latent talent is often the most powerful force,” Counselor Z said calmly. “There are many gifts competing within you for dominance, and I predict that in a very short time you’ll be a force to be reckoned with.”
Now what in the world did that mean?
Sarah saw her mother smile, while her father continued to frown. Had he hoped that Counselor Z would place her in the Specials at the last minute, too?
“You may join your division.”
No last-minute save, and in front of the whole school. Hushed snickers followed her. Damn…why couldn’t she have caught a break like Miguel had?
Sarah walked the rest of the distance and stepped behind the Blends flag bearer, then listened as the Great Hall exploded in a cacophony of voices—both scandalized and unbelieving. The fact that one of the Neterus was a Blend was obviously bad enough, but also the daughter of the Riveras, plus a third from the Neteru compound…? The school seemed to be in a complete uproar. Sarah closed her eyes, wishing the floor would just open up and swallow her whole.
“Now will everyone please join their divisions?” Counselor Z called out in exasperation.
The rest of the students jumped to their feet and scrambled to line up behind the appropriate flags. When they had all gathered with their divisions, Headmistress Stone stepped forward once again. She raised her hands.
“Hope is the future. Hope is our students,” she called out. “Hope is that one day, we will all be free!”
The dragons shifted, their inner illumination lighting the tapestries, which displayed images of all the Guardian teams from around the world, whether they had children at the Academy or not.
Multicolored lights danced within leaping, spiraling, twining dragon bodies. The sound of Kalimbas and African, Asian and Latin drums filled the air from the edges of the Great Hall, as Nod beings created a fusion of world music, adding in didgeridoos, bagpipes, lyres, gourd shakers, cow bells and harps.
“Your life-changing journey begins right now,” Headmistress Stone said, excitement and pride brimming in her eyes. “Ashe.”
Sarah looked over at Ayana, who smiled and gave her a thumbs-up.
The talent divisions were finally over.
Pandemonium broke out as the ceremony came to a close and the students said their good-byes to their parents. Thirty tapestries were lit, each one bearing an incoming student’s larger-than-life smiling image, along with the flag from their country of origin, which gleamed as brightly as their smiles. The images shifted to include the parents. There were proud couples, cheering single mothers and happy single fathers, even grandparents and other surrogates. Some were just shimmering images of the dead. The complex variety of what made up a family was as wonderfully assorted as all the new faces that Sarah had encountered since her arrival.
She watched as her mom and dad spent time with the other new students, especially those who had no parents. Her mother produced tiny items from her pockets to hand to each one. Some got a small charm for their hair, or a bracelet, some a tiny ring. Each student got something from her as a token of remembrance, but what they seemed to crave most was her mother’s hug.
And her mother didn’t rush those angel-winged embraces.
Her mother held each student until they were ready to let her go. Then she said something to them, something private and nice, that made that student nod and stand up taller or outright promise her they’d never forget what she’d said. Her mother had that effect on people. It was surely something from the divine. What was odd was seeing the same support being offered by her dad…a steady hand on a shoulder, a deep, introspective word, a pep talk such as only he could deliver, and then a hug followed by a fist bump that left even the eldest, most confident guys in the hall starstruck.
Maybe it was then, for the first time in her life, that she truly understood just what she’d had. Her grandmother’s words and the stories that Ayana had brought home from school now made her realize how afraid she’d been all these years…just how scared she was that, one day, when they left home, her parents might not come back. When her mother faced her, Sarah barreled into her arms. Humiliation singed her; she wasn’t supposed to act like a big baby in front of all these people.
Willing herself not to cry, she inhaled deeply as her mother stroked her back.
“I’m gonna miss you, too,” her mother said in her ear. “You know you are my favorite girl, and you know I believe in you. Grow. Learn. Make friends. Now it’s your turn. That’s all you have to do in order to make your dad and me proud, all right?”
Sarah nodded quickly, her face still hidden as she sniffed hard, those glorious wings of her mother’s surrounding her with downy warmth.
“I know you’re scared,” her mother whispered. “So am I. I’ve never done this before, eit
her.”
Sarah looked up into her mother’s shimmering eyes and took in her soft smile.
“Never have I left my babies away from home. This is new for me. You be the strong one for me today, all right?”
Sarah smiled and sniffed hard as her father came over and broke into their hug.
“Hey, doesn’t Dad get some love?”
He pulled her away from her mother and into his arms. “I was always papi. Now…I guess you’re too big for me to be hugging you in front of all your new friends, huh? But I don’t care, I’m gonna do it anyway, even if I embarrass both of us.”
Sarah laughed as she laid her head against her father’s chest and allowed two big tears to roll down the bridge of her nose. “You’ll always be my papi,” she said through another hard sniff.
Her dad hugged her tighter and spoke into her hair. “Good. You let all these good-looking knuckleheads in here know your father has fangs, too. You call me.”
She laughed and stared up at him. “Daddy, we’ve been through this already—like a couple of hours ago.”
He let her go with a wide grin. “Yeah, I know, I know, I’m sounding like a broken record.”
Sarah frowned and tilted her head in curiosity.
“You’re dating yourself, honey,” her mother said, smiling hard.
Her father slapped his forehead and gave her a lopsided grin. “What am I gonna do, boo? Answer me that. Somewhere along the way I lost track of time and got old. How in the hell that happened, I don’t know.”
“Goes like that,” Uncle Mike said, lifting Sarah off her feet for a hug, and making her laugh as he passed her off to her uncle Jack. “All these kids are growing up so fast. Look at my Ayana.”
“It happened in your sleep, dude,” Uncle Jack said, laughing and hugging her as he moved between the students. “It snuck up on ya. The passage of time is a weapon from the dark side, man—ask me how I know!”
Her father laughed as her aunts fought to get a hug in between her uncles’ attentions, as everybody’s children became anybody’s in a jumble of extended family.
Then her father’s gregarious smile eased into a gentler expression, one so tender that it made Sarah glance away. He put his finger under her chin to make her look up at him.
“Doesn’t matter. I can get to be a hundred and fifty years old and you can get to be a hundred and ten, you’re always gonna be my baby girl. Always gonna be my pride and joy—so you do good in school, and don’t you worry about nothing else, all right? I’m very proud of you, Sarah. Been waiting for this day all your life, and then it was your old man who wasn’t ready. I love you.”
He gave her one last hug and then walked away. Her mother’s calm smile confirmed it—her dad was two seconds away from public tears, something he’d never allow. Her father was upset in a way that she’d never seen him before. Sarah glanced at Alejandro, and he gave her a nod, a rare brother-to-sister “yeah, I know” kind of look.
Her mom and dad had gone to her brother first, after they’d made the rounds of all the new kids. But it was the moment between her and her dad that made him leave the hall with his head up, shoulders back, posture straight—and a deep well of emotions he hid from the world.
As the wall torches dimmed, her mother whispered softly in her ear, “He fights with you the most because you touch him more deeply than anyone else on this planet.”
Sarah’s gaze softened as she took in her mother’s words. It was true. Her dad always had something to say about whatever she was doing, but when it came to Al, he only challenged her brother when he was doing something particularly dangerous or stupid. But when she and her dad fought, it was almost always over some principle of fairness, equity in the compound or justice. Heck, they argued about practically everything to the point where sometimes it made her crazy…and yet, her dad always seemed to trust her more than he did her brother. Until her mother said what she did, she could never fully understand why.
“You’re his little girl,” her mother pressed on softly, touching Sarah’s cheek. “Be advised. He’s not as tough on the inside as he seems on the outside. It took me a few years to learn that, and it’s now our secret.”
Sarah stared up at the ceiling, unblinking. What was she supposed to do with information like that? What did it mean? Why had her mother told her this?
Suddenly his double standard, his chauvinism, the unfairness of his treatment of her and Al, and who got to do what, had just gone right out the skylight with the dragons.
Chapter 8
Her parents were gone. She heard students chattering away—the new students waiting to be shown to their dorms and the others just socializing. Sarah caught snatches of gossip and gathered that the Neteru kids were going to be the topic of conversation for a while. She let out a sigh.
Right then and there she made up her mind that she wasn’t going to listen to any of it. She refused to allow any reference to her deficiency to kill what was left of her already fragile self-esteem. She would ignore the juicy tidbits of scandal that she overheard. Instead, she would focus on what her mother had told her.
When she felt a hard bump to her back, she turned around, ready to apologize for being in the way. The apology died on her lips when she saw who it was.
“Sorry, but you need to watch it, B-D,” Melissa said with a sneer, her cohorts standing behind her and sneering. “Maybe you would have seen that coming if you had some real Clav skills.”
B-D! Did that witch just say B-D, as in beadie? Sarah’s gaze narrowed. Her cousin Ayana had told her about all the school slang for losers. Now some girl that she didn’t even know had not only nearly knocked her down but had also called her by the dreaded term that made anyone in the Blends division cringe. Those were fighting words.
Anger rose fast in Sarah, and she could feel her fangs beginning to come down. “What’s your problem?”
“Oh, look, she has fangs,” Amy said, with a giggle, pointing at Sarah.
“How cute, in an ugly sort of way,” Angelica cooed, and then laughed along with Amy and Melissa.
“And they work,” Sarah said. She stepped forward and felt a small stab of satisfaction when Amy took a step back.
Melissa glared at Amy in annoyance, then turned back to Sarah. “Well, it’s obvious that the fruit fell very far from the tree that bore it. Listen, Neteru brat, don’t think you’re anything here just because of who your parents are.” Her gaze narrowed. “I run this school, and should you forget that, just know that a lot of things can happen when nobody’s looking. And you’d better tell your flunky to watch her back, too.”
“No, skank,” Tami said, materializing from the crowd. “You’d better watch yours.” Tami eyed the other girl’s long hair. “Think twice before you threaten Sarah again. I would hate to see you hanging by your wig from a back stairwell one dark and lonely night.”
“Hey, what’s the problem?” Al said, catching up to the group.
Melissa smirked. “Your sister and her pit bull just violated rule number one here at the Academy —threatening another student,” she told him.
“You did what?” Al asked.
“Mind your own business, Al,” Tami said. “You tag it, we’ll bag it—you know the compound motto.”
“What?” Melissa asked frowning.
“I think she told you to watch out,” Sarah said with raised eyebrows, then inhaled sharply when Melissa’s eyes darkened dangerously.
Alejandro rubbed his palms down his face, obviously fighting a combination of embarrassment and rage.
“Why’d you threaten her, Sarah?” Al finally said as he threw his shoulders back, clearly posturing for the new girl.
Sarah saw a small smile of amusement on Melissa’s lips. “I didn’t,” Sarah said through her teeth.
“I bumped into her by accident and she got all huffy,” Melissa said, tossing her glossy hair over her shoulder.
“Is that all?” Al said, stepping in front of Melissa as if to shield her from Sarah. “Are
you nuts?”
Sarah stared at him as if he had lost his mind.
“C’mon, guys, ease up,” Wil said, making his way over to the scene. His gaze shot past Melissa and landed on Sarah. “If you don’t stop, you’ll get kicked out on your first day.”
Sarah almost choked on her disappointment and outrage. Wil thought she had started this stupid scene, too?
Melissa smiled at him. “Well, if it isn’t our new warrior. Congratulations on placing in the Shadows, Wil.”
Al scowled, clearly feeling upstaged just by Wil’s presence.
Wil shrugged humbly, but Sarah could see that he was proud. “Thanks.”
“Yes, congratulations, Wil,” a quiet, feminine voice said.
Sarah immediately turned to see who’d spoken. At some point during the argument, Patty Gray had joined the group. Now she walked up to Wil and gently kissed him on the cheek.
Wil cleared his throat awkwardly and said, “Thanks, Patty.”
Melissa gave Sarah an evil smile, then turned to Patty and said, “Hi, sis.”
Sarah looked at the stunning Upper Sphere girl and suddenly felt like she had dirt under her fingernails and spinach between her teeth.
Don’t start to dream too big, loser.
Sarah jumped at the sound of Melissa’s voice in her head. Then her eyes narrowed in fury. Melissa had riffled through her private thoughts! But she’d also left her more information than she’d planned. Obviously Melissa had miscalculated and underestimated her opponent, her anger making her sloppy. The one thing that Nana Marlene had always taught them was that when you went into someone else’s thoughts, they could pull out information, too. The most pressing question that had been on Sarah’s mind when Melissa went into it was, why was the girl messing with her? The answer came back now like a slow slingshot of information: Stefan. Town. Him getting close to Tami and spoiling a secret. Okay, who the hell was Stefan? Not that it mattered at the moment. What infuriated Sarah was Melissa getting up in her face and, worse yet, inside her head without permission.
